About This Episode
AI was cited as the cause of 26% of April's U.S. job cuts, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, making it the second-largest single reason for layoffs. Monthly hiring averaged just 76,000 jobs so far in 2026, up from a dismal 10,000/month average in 2025, but unemployment remains sticky at 4.3%–4.5%. Major firms restructuring around AI include PayPal and Ticketmaster.
Our Take
The April Challenger report just confirmed what the book predicted: AI has become a structural force in the U.S. labor market, not a cyclical one — and the gap between job cuts accelerating and new hiring limping along at 76,000/month is exactly the Labor Cliff arriving in real time.